BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BKU. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BankUnited from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on BankUnited from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Compass Point lifted their target price on BankUnited from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BankUnited from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $27.00.

BankUnited Trading Up 11.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $25.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $15.83 and a 52-week high of $40.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 1.31.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.08). BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 11.86%. The company had revenue of $498.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.38 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 12th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 36.86%.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,828,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,967,000 after purchasing an additional 306,521 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,684,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,898,000 after purchasing an additional 252,653 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,887,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,895,000 after purchasing an additional 177,718 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,729,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,813,000 after purchasing an additional 171,171 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,715,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,307,000 after purchasing an additional 169,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services.